A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.

Reading so many books! It's hard to keep track...

Just finished Milo and the Restart Button. I know, I know, it's a book for nine-year-old boys and it somewhat rips off Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which I haven't read) with the cartoons interspersed throughout the story - but all the same, it's pretty darn good! It's really hard to find a children's book about loss and grief that can deal with the issues with such a light touch. And the prose is just, oh, it's just good. I would be interested to find out if author Alan Silberberg has written anything for adults - his prose is warm, personal, funny and sensitive as well as very skilful.



After reading The Female Brain, naturally, I was interested to see that there was a 'sequel' (inasmuch as nonfiction books about brain biology can have sequels) called (rather obviously) The Male Brain. I finished it fairly quickly - haven't read the appendixes though - and was, all in all, rather disappointed by it. I think Louann Brizendine ought not to have bothered writing a second book at all - she should have just rewritten the first to include the few interesting contrasts that male brains specifically manifest. Most of what was said in The Male Brain has already at least been mentioned in The Female Brain, so there isn't really anything new for a reader to think about. So the book is pretty dull as a result.



The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Wow. As a writer Pratchett (or 'Pterry', as fans affectionately call him...) has grown sooooo much over the several dozen Discworld novels. This is the first time I have read the first book of the series - I started out with
the 31st book, Monstrous Regiment, which was very clever and well written - though increasingly incoherent and muddy towards the end, and then proceeded to read
Making Money (the 36th and most recent book - very good),
Going Postal (the 33rd and my favourite. Btw, you should read this one before you read Making Money - they're both about the same character, 'Moist von Lipwig') and then
Night Watch (the 29th, also very good - but I found it a little confusing on account of not having yet read any of the previous books about the Watch). Then I read
Feet of Clay (19, also about the Watch, though not the first of the Watch books)
Maskerade (18, one of the books about the witches - my least favourite set of characters)
Hogfather (20, one of the books about Death, who is surprisingly sympathetic as a character...)
Thud! (34, the most recent of the Watch novels)
Carpe Jugulum (23, another witches novel - this one with vampires!)
The Truth (25, my second favourite because it's so flipping awesome!)
Reaper Man (11, a 'Death' novel, reviewed here)
Mort (4, also about Death)
Equal Rites (3, which I only just finished reading and should therefore review, but won't. Witches)
Lords and Ladies (14. Ditto the above)

My feelings about Pratchett are mixed. On one hand, he's a witty, witty genius whose books are so easy and nice to read. On the other hand, the earlier ones are remarkably less good. The Colour of Magic epitomises this statement - glimpses of Pratchett's razor wit and funniness pop up from time to time, but I found it a very hard slog with very little plot, rather mediocre characters and an extremely incoherent concept. Not my favourite. If you haven't read any Discworld books before I don't think I would reccommend you to start with the first one, simply because it isn't very good - though I'm not sure what I would reccomend as a debut... Going Postal perhaps?

A Man's Brain Must Expand, If It Takes Up The Universe!

Reading: The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton This is the first of Chesterton's fictional works that I have really been able to get into - and it's pretty unputdownable! Chesterton's prose is as unexpected and strangely lyrical as his philosophical work. Not finished it yet, but enjoying very much. Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood This book... was OK. I mean, not badly written, nice imagery, cool 192o's setting, pretty usual murder mystery plotline (although the plot really isn't the point of the book, one realises) and the protagonist was perfect. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I liked her. Phryne Fisher (catchy name, much?) is the self sufficient daughter of a baronet; she's a private detective, stunningly gorgeous and graceful, socially adept, art critic, gourmet, owns a lovely big house in Melbourne with two adopted daughters. Her problem? She has no problems. I found Phryne incredibly annoying in this respect - and her habit of walking all over the other characters really got to me by the end of the book. And the fact that she has a casual sexual relationships (not to mention her continually blase attitude towards debauchery in general - I mean, one passage had me wondering if she had experimented with bestiality. Ew.) just seemed implausible, considering the setting. The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine This book is rather different to those above... in that it isn't a novel, let alone a mysterious thriller. It's a book about how women's brains are different from men's.I found it very interesting and informative - plenty of stuff that I'd already figured out for myself, but it's nice to have scientific writing backing you up, isn't it? I was annoyed by all the 'when we were cavemen' imagery - particularly considering that I have read other (secular, if it matters to you) scientists decry the use of such outdated anthropological suppositions as 'neanderthal man' and his animalistic behaviour. Oh, and Louann Brizendine is a big advocate for hormone therapy, which I'm not entirely cool with. But certainly a fascinating read.